Dangerous Levels of Mercury are in HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

Dangerous levels of mercury are damaging to your brain, immune system, and your unborn baby. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy released two new studies to the public yesterday that have found mercury in common foods sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

The report summarizes how this happens:

“In making HFCS, caustic soda is used, among other things, to separate corn starch from the corn kernel. For decades, HFCS has been made using mercury-grade caustic soda produced in industrial chlorine (chlor-alkali) plants. The use of mercury cells to produce caustic soda can contaminate caustic soda, and ultimately HFCS, with mercury.”

According to Environmental Health Dangerous Levels of Mercury Test:

Mercury was found in nearly 50% of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup.” Ben Lilliston of The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) reports that in a followup study they detected mercury in “nearly one-third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first or second highest labeled ingredient– including products by Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft, and Smucker.

In his report Lilliston claims that the average American consumes about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS and some kids and teens can be consuming up to nearly 80% more than that.

Dangerous Levels of Mercury and Neurological Disorders

Many parents of children suffering from neurological disorders have found that the removal of high fructose corn syrup from their child’s diet has been beneficial. These alarming studies prove that perhaps the reason moves beyond the argument that fructose sugar is bad for your metabolism or that a corn allergy is present in all kids who benefit from removing high fructose corn syrup from their diets. Perhaps the real underlying problem for some is a metal toxicity issue. If there are dangerous levels of mercury in HFCS, removing it should improve health. We all want what is best for our children, and the recent spike in cases of children suffering from multiple allergies, autism, ADHD, and chronic multifocal tic disorders really proves that there is something rotten in our food chain.

I work with the Corn Refiners Association and want to point out a serious inaccuracy in the study that came out in Environmental Health that reports high fructose corn syrup contains mercury. The study appears to be based on outdated information since the corn industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study for several years. It’s important that Americans know that high fructose corn syrup is safe and high fructose corn syrup meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for the use of the term “natural.” Here’s a link to the statement by the Corn Refiners Association on the topic – http://www.hfcsfacts.com/HFCS-Mercury-Study-Outdated.html/dontfollow

You can say what you like, but the proof is in the pudding. What parent in their right mind would want to feed their kid this junk when laboratory tests have physically SHOWN the presence of mercury.
Do you think we are stupid?
We don’t need this sweetener that you refer to as natural.
I would rather sweeten my home cooked food with honey than buy a processed, packaged, food like substance that contains a possible toxin.
Sorry. I am not buying the rebuttal.

I would like verifiable proof that the CRA does not use any mercury-based caustic soda in ANY food product produced in North America. I have done a bit of research on caustic soda and although it can be made without mercury, it is more costly to do so. Somehow that makes me wonder whether or not the CRA has/will put their money where their mouth is.
From Caustic Soda Production and Manufacturing: “Mercury cells are cheaper to operate than diaphragm cells when electricity costs are low and produce product at the required concentration and high purity, but mercury must be removed from the effluent.”http://www.icis.com/V2/chemicals/9075191/caustic-soda/process.html

Eyes on the Lies has posted a nice article on this very subject. And I share the opinions, wholeheartedly: “What is Erickson NOT saying? She’s not saying that ALL the HFCS is made without mercury. She just says that somewhere in the industry, somebody is using a mercury-free version of the caustic soda. That doesn’t mean all the HFCS is mercury free, yet if you don’t read her statement carefully, you might be misled into thinking that. Her statement, in fact, leaves open the possibility that 99% of all HFCS might still be manufactured using mercury.”http://eyesonthelies.com/2009/01/28/high-fructose-corn-syrup-contaminated-with-mercury/

Is the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy a federal agency? Maybe a dumb question, but I’d like to know. It actually ads weight if a federal agency is finding these things and reporting on them.

They are not. I disagree on ‘adding weight’– Federal agencies often reflect the opinions of heavy lobbyists in my opinion. (FDA).
This is an organization that works globally and is concerned with environmental issues.http://www.iatp.org/iatp/history.cfm

From their website:

In 1986, leaders of rural and farm movements from around the world gathered in Geneva to discuss the deepening farm crisis that was forcing farmers off the land and devastating rural communities. It quickly became clear that many of the obstacles facing farmers in the U.S. were the same challenges facing farmers in Europe, Asia and Africa, and that international trade agreements were deeply affecting local rural communities across the globe. At the conclusion of the Geneva meeting, a small group of rural and farm leaders—who now comprise IATP’s board of directors—identified the need for a new organization to examine the links between global policy and local communities.

Mark Ritchie, then a trade policy analyst for the state of Minnesota, returned from the Geneva meeting to the United States and incorporated the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, with the mission of fostering sustainable rural communities and regions. In 1987, IATP began to organize and report on the newly launched round of international trade negotiations being conducted by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT—which eventually became the World Trade Organization. The rules of agricultural trade set in the GATT and implemented at the WTO have deeply influenced national and local farm policies around the globe over the last two decades. Since its founding, IATP has played a unique role in analyzing international trade policy and summarizing the ramifications of these policies on local communities, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Darlene, my wife, has found through Doug Kaufman a nutritional scientist for over 35 years that even organic corn and all corn and corn products worldwide have aflatoxin b poison . We have been gaining his wisdom for over 15 years. WE have gained much from his programs that you can see on his website. His specialty is an in depth study on the cure from all disease including cancer, revealing a fungus link to it all and how to avoid and starve and attack fungus in the body. http://www.knowthecause.com